To fill out PS Form 3811, the USPS domestic return receipt, copy your host service tracking number into the article number field on the front, check the box for the service you purchased (Certified Mail, Registered Mail, COD, Priority Mail Express, or Insured Mail over $500), then flip the card over and print your own name and return address in one block and the recipient’s exact name and delivery address in the other. Peel the adhesive strips, press the card onto the back of your envelope, and hand it to the postal clerk so both barcodes get scanned and linked. The service costs $4.40 as of January 2026, on top of postage and your primary service fee.1United States Postal Service. Notice 123 – Price List
What You Need Before You Start
You can’t buy a return receipt on its own. It has to ride with another extra service that already carries a tracking barcode. Under DMM Section 503.6, the card pairs with Certified Mail, Registered Mail, Collect on Delivery, Priority Mail Express, or Insurance on items insured for more than $500.2United States Postal Service. Domestic Mail Manual 503 – Extra Services Buy that host service first, then attach the green card.
The form itself is free. Grab one at any post office counter, or order them through the USPS Postal Store at store.usps.com in packs of ten, up to 75 packs per order.3United States Postal Service. Domestic Return Receipt Forms You only pay the $4.40 service fee when you actually mail a piece with one attached.
A note on the alternative: USPS also sells an electronic return receipt for $2.82 that emails you a PDF of the signature instead of mailing a card back. If you prefer that route you never touch Form 3811 at all, so the rest of this guide is for the physical green card.
Filling Out the Front of the Card
The front is the side with the large numbered fields. Three things go here.
Article number. Copy the full tracking number from your host service label — the Certified Mail strip, Registered Mail label, or equivalent — into the article number field. Every digit matters. If this number doesn’t match the label on your envelope, the signed card that comes back to you can’t be tied to your mailpiece, and it loses its value as proof.
Service type. Check exactly one box for the service you actually paid for: Certified Mail, Registered Mail, COD, Priority Mail Express, or Insured Mail. Not the service you meant to buy — the one on your receipt.
Restricted Delivery. Check this box only if you also paid the separate $8.40 Restricted Delivery fee at the counter.1United States Postal Service. Notice 123 – Price List Restricted Delivery limits who can sign to the addressee or an authorized agent, so no one else at the address can accept the item.4United States Postal Service. What is Restricted Delivery? Checking the box without paying the fee doesn’t buy you the service, and paying the fee without checking the box can create a mismatch on the record.
Filling Out the Back of the Card
Flip the card over. Two address blocks, both required.
Your name and return address. Print clearly. Once the carrier collects the signature, USPS drops the completed card back into the mail to this address. Illegible handwriting or a missing line here is the most common way a signed receipt disappears — the signature exists somewhere in the system, but nothing tells the post office where to send the card.
Recipient’s name and delivery address. This has to match your envelope or package exactly. Same spelling of the name, same street address, same suite or apartment number. If the card says one thing and the mailing label says another, the carrier at delivery may not connect the two.
One more requirement that’s easy to overlook: the mailpiece itself must carry a complete return address printed on it, not just the return address on the green card. The DMM requires this whenever a return receipt is requested.2United States Postal Service. Domestic Mail Manual 503 – Extra Services
Attaching the Card and Handing It to the Clerk
The green card has adhesive strips along its edges. Peel the backing and press the card firmly onto the back of your envelope or package. Keep it clear of the front — nothing on the card should cover the delivery address, the return address, or the postage. If it does, processing equipment can reject the piece or the carrier can’t read what’s underneath.
At the counter, the clerk weighs the piece, verifies postage, scans the tracking barcode on your host service label, then scans the barcode on the green card to link the two electronically.2United States Postal Service. Domestic Mail Manual 503 – Extra Services Watch for both scans. If only one registers, you may end up with tracking that doesn’t connect to your receipt.
Pay the full amount at the counter: postage, host service fee, return receipt fee, and Restricted Delivery if you added it. Short-paying any piece means USPS either returns the mail to you or processes it without the return receipt.
What Happens After Delivery
When the mailpiece reaches the delivery address, the carrier asks someone there to sign and date the green card. Without Restricted Delivery, any adult at the address can sign — a spouse, roommate, office receptionist, or building manager all qualify. The carrier detaches the signed card from the envelope and drops it into the outgoing mail. It usually lands in your mailbox within a few business days of delivery.
Once the card arrives, check it. Confirm the article number matches your original tracking label, the signature is legible or at least present, and the delivery date is filled in. Store it with your records for the mailing. There’s no expiration on the card’s value as evidence once you have it in hand.
If the Card Never Comes Back
Green cards sometimes get lost in the mail on the return trip. You have 90 days from the date you paid the return receipt fee to request a replacement.5United States Postal Service. Return Receipt – The Basics Take your original mailing receipt to any post office and ask to fill out PS Form 3811-A, Request for Delivery Information/Return Receipt.6United States Postal Service. PS Form 3811-A – Request for Delivery Information/Return Receipt The clerk postmarks the form and submits it for processing, and USPS pulls the delivery record from their system.
After 90 days the window closes and USPS will not process the request, so hold on to that mailing receipt. Without it, you can’t prove you paid the fee in the first place.
Cost at the Counter
Here’s what you’ll actually pay as of January 2026 when you mail one piece with a return receipt attached:1United States Postal Service. Notice 123 – Price List
- Physical return receipt (PS Form 3811): $4.40
- Certified Mail: $5.30
- Registered Mail: $19.70 and up, depending on declared value
- Restricted Delivery, if added: $8.40
- Postage on your mailpiece: separate, based on weight and class
A one-ounce First-Class letter sent Certified with a physical return receipt runs about $10.43 all in: $0.73 postage, $5.30 Certified, $4.40 green card. Add Restricted Delivery and it’s closer to $18.83. Bring enough to cover the whole stack, because the clerk won’t split the transaction.